Moral Imagination
Ethics & Empathy in the Age of AI
Nathan C. Walker
The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence requires the public to cultivate practical knowledge about AI ethics and law. To achieve this, Dr. Nathan C. Walker applies the practice of moral imagination, the ability to picture yourself in an ethical dilemma about AI to understand competing points of view.
In his forthcoming book about justice, trust, and public safety, Dr. Walker fosters your embodied understanding of how your moral compass guides you in these uncertain times. Dr. Walker argues that by applying moral imagination, we cultivate ethical empathy to understand another’s perspective, aware that understanding need not imply agreement.
Moral Imagination is not a call for relativism about AI ethics but an invitation to understand diverse standpoints that call readers to articulate informed moral convictions. In doing so, we take shared responsibility for contributing to the public’s ethical and legal literacy about artificial intelligence.
Prologue
- Introduction
- AI Archetypes
- AI Primer
- AI Transparency Statement
Act I. Inherent Worth & Dignity
- Robot Rex
- “Thanks, Alexa.”
- Imposter Generation
- Lean and Slipper’d Pantaloon
Act II. Trust & Transparency
- “I Don’t Know”
- Black Box
- Substitute Me
Act III. Power & Privacy
- Crawl & Scrape
- Paris Olympics
- Citizen Journalist
- Scan Before You Flush
- iEars
Act IV. Accountability & Shared Responsibility
- Autopilot Accident
- “One Ringy Dingy”
- “I have some difficult news.”
Act V. Safety & Security
- Autonomous Weapons
- Satellite Intelligence
- “What Was Her AI Wearing?”
Act VI. Fairness & Justice
- Apply Now!
- The Abolitionist
- Diverse Natzis
- Red Lining Lenders
Act VII. Agency & Autonomy
- Cognitive Liberty
- Human Oversight
- AI Bill of Rights
Act VIII. Integrity & Accuracy
- Matter of Fact
- “Your Vote, Your Voice.”
- “Don’t Wait, Vaccinate!”
- Constitutional AI
- Likeness
Act IX. Beneficence & Interdependence
- AI’s Carbon Footprint
- Digital Divide
- Birds & Bees
- Robot Tax
Epilogue
- Moral Compass
- All the World’s a Stage
Notes
Lyrics
Acknowledgments
